Bra lifts sales at Victoria's Secret

Friday

Aug 31, 2012 at 12:01 AMAug 31, 2012 at 10:34 AM

The relaunch of a popular bra line - and a perfume to go with it - helped drive sales at Victoria's Secret during August and contributed to a stronger-than-expected sales month for parent company Limited Brands.

Tim Feran, The Columbus Dispatch

The relaunch of a popular bra line — and a perfume to go with it — helped drive sales at Victoria’s Secret during August and contributed to a stronger-than-expected sales month for parent company Limited Brands.

Limited Brands has beaten Wall Street expectations every month in the past year with the exception of October 2011, when comparable store sales increased 6?percent, just below analysts’ predictions of a 6.2 percent rise.

In every one of those months, Victoria’s Secret has led the way. In August, for instance, the lingerie chain reported a 9 percent rise in comparable store sales while sibling chains Bath & Body Works reported a 6 percent rise and La Senza reported flat sales.

Limited Brands reported a same-store sales increase of 8?percent in August, an uptick driven by a relaunch of a bra line that was originally introduced in 2009, Body by Victoria, coupled with sales of a Body by Victoria perfume as well as the launch of the Love MyBody body-care line, said Amie Preston, chief investor relations officer.

The company offered a range of products at different price points, which proved to be successful.

Victoria’s Secret’s pricing strategy was common among all U.S. retailers that posted good August sales, said Ken Perkins of Retail Metrics.

“Retailers have generally offered attractive introductory price points for cash-strapped consumers as well as aggressive promotions to drive traffic,” he said. As a result, “a resilient consumer, given a reason to shop, came out strong in August to snap up good deals and new fashion for kids headed back to school.”

“Consumer spending increased for the first time in three months,” said Chris Christopher, an economist at IHS Global Insight, “providing evidence that, after hunkering down for two consecutive months, there are signs of life on the consumer front.”

Luxury department store Nordstrom led all stores with a strong 21 percent jump. Gap Inc. continued to show signs of a turnaround by posting a 9 percent increase. Both were fueled at least in part by back-to-school buying. TJX Inc. reported an 8?percent increase.